Galaxy Note II review: The 2012 Note that proved the phablet was no fluke.
The phablet that became a category.
The Galaxy Note II turned the phablet from an experiment into a best-seller, with a big battery and a better S Pen. A piece of history today.
01Display
46/10046/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2012 — 20 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
02Camera
32/10032/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2012 — 26 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
16/10016/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2012 — 37 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
50/10050/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2012 — 10 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
40/10040/100 is one of the weaker build results among flagship phones of 2012 — 21 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
06Value
30/10030/100 is one of the weaker value results among flagship phones of 2012 — 18 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
- Big-battery phablet with excellent endurance for 2012.
- Improved, more accurate S Pen.
- Removable battery and microSD.
- A major commercial success.
- Low 720p resolution on a 5.5-inch screen.
- Glossy plastic build.
- Software ended at Android 4.4.
- Discontinued — a vintage device.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 82-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .